First today I have to complement Tony Boutin for another letter to the editor where he hits the nail right on the head. This Marxist-socialist nonsense that Obama and liberals worship like a false idol is the most self-destructive form of government ever conceived, in my opinion. Over and over I have challenged liberals to provide an example of a successful socialist country that was or is not dependent on someone else, and they are unable to do so. Still they parrot the socialist line like it was gospel.

Second, today I read on the front page where a criminal felon took a couple shots through a screen door of a house. The story indicates he was probably high on methamphetamine. Guess this is another example of what liberals call a victimless crime, but only because Mrs. Joslin wasn't hit by a bullet. Get this straight, criminals are criminals and felons are felons for a reason. They are dangers to other people, predators who cannot and will not respect the rights and lives of others. But still liberals lead by our un-American president sees fit to release thousands from prisons for one reason, because they are black. I guarantee if they were all white he wouldn't give a fig.

Third, another shout-out to L. Michael Hatch. Another gentleman with 20-20 vision concerning the Clintons. Even now after two, not one but two inspector generals found security breaches in Hillary's e-mails which she failed to turn over to State when she left, but said she did, can we expect the FBI and Justice to investigate? Don't hold your breath folks both departments have been politically compromised and the liberal media will sweep this away as undeserving of their attention, wait and see.

Will the people rise up and shout their outrage? Nope, too busy with more important things. And by such things do great nations fall.

Kathryn Steinle shouldn't be dead. Joshua Wilkerson, Mirta Rivera, Casey Chadwick, Rodney Johnson, Javier Vega Jr., Jamiel Shaw Jr., and over 25,000 more Americans shouldn't be dead either. They were all killed by illegal aliens who shouldn't have been here.

Those Americans died and millions of others were raped, robbed, battered, kidnapped, impoverished, or otherwise victimized because greedy Washington Democrat and Republican politicians and special interest groups care more about their own power and wealth than the well-being of the American people.

American workers do all jobs: waiters, housekeeping, crop picking, garbage collecting, ditch digging, construction, cleaning out septic tanks, etc. The vast majority of workers in all but a very few job categories are American citizens. More Americans would be working and self-supporting if immigrants didn't take jobs and drive down wages.

Despite false claims to the contrary, illegal aliens commit crimes at a higher rate than American citizens. For example, citing FBI data to try to counter Donald Trump, Rupert Murdock claimed that there are 2 million jailed Americans compared to "only" 267,000 illegal aliens. A 2011 GAO report claims there are 249,000 jailed illegal aliens. (To support the politicians, states and the federal government hide illegal alien crime statistics.) Whichever is correct, since there are about 30 times as many Americans as illegal aliens, the illegal alien crime rate is two to three times the rate of American citizens.

Politicians say illegal aliens can't get welfare, but that's a lie. Illegals are only (theoretically) restricted from getting federal means-tested welfare. Illegals get state, local and other federal benefits: Free medical treatment, free child education, and maybe housing, food stamps, etc. On average each illegal alien household annually receives about $15,000 in taxpayer-provided benefits more than they pay in taxes.

Illegal immigration is one of the reasons the rich are getting richer while the rest of us are getting poorer. The beneficiaries of illegal immigration live in protected environments and send their children to private schools. It's middle- and lower-income Americans who suffer from illegal immigration.

Presidential candidates, e.g., Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, who want to reward illegal aliens by letting them stay here, ignore the harm illegals do to most Americans. Thus voters need to consider other candidates if they really want middle- and lower-income Americans to be safer, freer, and have more opportunities for better jobs, incomes, and lives.

On July 29, I attended a meeting that was held in Gilford to view a streamed live video of a presentation by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Similar meetings were held in many other cities and towns in each of the 50 states and the video was viewed by more than 100,000 people. The presentation provided an opportunity for people to obtain an understanding of who Bernie Sanders is and what he stands for as a presidential candidate.

I was first attracted to Bernie as a presidential candidate when I attended his first town meeting in New Hampshire on May 27 in Concord and listened to his message. The straight-forward nature of what I heard got my attention. Bernie doesn't talk in political riddles. He speaks about the real issues in plain terms.

Who is Bernie Sanders? To start, he's no stranger or newcomer to Washington. He is the junior senator from Vermont. He was a congressman from 1990-2006, and has been Vermont's junior senator since he won the 2006 election for that position.

He is an honest politician, even though that sounds like an oxymoron. He doesn't have baggage from scandals and other dishonorable behavior exhibited by many politicians of today, and he's not in the pocket of or beholding to large corporations or private backers for future political favors. His support comes from a grassroots movement by people who are concerned about where this country is headed.

Bernie Sanders position on key issues hasn't changed over time and he doesn't waffle on issues trying to say what he thinks will be what people want to hear. And he doesn't subscribe to negative campaigning as a way to discredit other candidates as away to gain voter support.

What's Bernie's message? For starters:

1. We need to educate young people and make that education affordable.

2. We need to provide fair wages to people so they have an opportunity to make a living wage.

3. We need to get big money out of political elections so people don't "buy" their political office.

4. We need to do something about the extreme disparity of wealth that exists today where the compensation of top corporate executives is several hundred times the wages of employees.

5. And we need to pay attention to global warming and its impact on the environment.

As Bernie said in his presentation, "enough is enough."

I could go on describing the issues Bernie Sanders sees as critical to the people of the United States in the upcoming elections that include an unfair tax structure that unjustly benefits large corporations, inadequate funding to repair failing infrastructure across the country, racial issues, and incarceration for minor crimes that's filling prisons unnecessarily.

But if these issues and the issues I outlined above are a concern to you, you'll want to learn more about Bernie Sanders position on them for yourself and you can do that at berniesanders.com.

I'm convinced that if you do that, you'll reach the same conclusion that I've reached. If this country is to survive the current crises we're in, we need to elect Bernie Sanders as the next president of the United States.

Why is it those four Marines will not get the Purple Heart because this was not a terrorist plot? I beg your pardon, it was terror and they should get the Purple Heart. What is wrong with this administration that they will not do the right thing?

Why are Obama and the rest of them still in office? That, my friend, is a good question. I hope everyone is ready to become communist. That is what this country is heading for. All we need now is Hillary Clinton as our next president for eight years. Yes, I said the next eight years. Have you not noticed the last few presidents have had eight years? That is going to be the normal from here on. So I guess most people are used to that.

Why are we so ready to accept everything and anything this government throws at us? This is way out of control don't you think so? What will it take to take our country back? It gets worse as time goes on. Does our vote count or is it fixed like everything? This government is in every one's face. When are the American people going to wise up? Stay tuned for more of the same from our wonderful government.

America is overspending. We are doing so in all areas of the budget from warfare to welfare, all the way through to our monetary policy. We should begin debt repayment immediately. We could do it if we wanted to.

The United States military budget is larger than the combined budgets of the next 15 highest spending governments in the world combined. We waste billions of dollars on incoherent foreign policy that makes Americans less safe. Greater security and firmer financial footing are not mutually exclusive.

America suffers from excessive social spending. We need to spend less on corporate welfare. We need to increase the eligibility age for Social Security. Qualification for disability needs to be reviewed. We must change the need to have 45 million people on food stamps. The approach to the social safety net needs to change.

There is a need for a less costly more effective tax system which is simply not possible through a one size fits all federal system. Tax dollars need to stay closer to home. Sending more money to the District of Columbia limits oversight, adds layers of bureaucracy and opportunity for waste, graft and corruption. There are no economies of scale with respect to government... only levels of power, control and tyranny.

The obvious danger of having Congress remain on its present course is financial ruin which will lead to loss of freedom. The only real debate between our two parties is whether we should spend more on welfare or more on warfare. That is a canard. But we need to understand the politicians take their cues from us ... not the other way around.

Congress will only reverse course if we the people reject the entitlement mentality and understand that the government is incapable of running its own budget. It demonstrably cannot run the world, the economy, or our lives. Those who believe in freedom, life and personal property must spread the belief. We must grow the movement for limited government, free markets, sound money, and peace.